Nelson and Amy Kanning are the owners of Kanning Dental, a family and cosmetic dental practice in Missouri offering complete care in a warm, family-friendly environment.
Kanning Dental is a local, family-focused dental office providing exceptional family dentistry to Lawson and Richmond.
The Challenge
Amy and Nelson worked with their first BELAY Virtual Assistant for around three months. When things weren’t going as well as they should have, their Client Success Consultant Garrett stepped in and suggested transitioning to another contractor.
“We talked about it and he said [there] were a lot of [options] on the table, but ultimately he came to the conclusion that we need to [transition],” Nelson recalls.
This is why our Client Success Consultant role is so important in the success of your engagement with BELAY. They are both your liaison and advocate.
“We didn't know what ‘a Maddie’ was like—the potential,” Amy adds.
“Nelson and I are very relational people, and we don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. Garrett knows that about us, and he's like, ‘I'm just not sensing you're happy or you're getting what you need.’
“We had a meeting with him and was like, ‘These are some of our concerns.’
“He knew what potential was, where we didn't see what potential could be.”
And that’s when BELAY Virtual Assistant Maddie MacDonald popped up on their screens.
The Solution
“When we were looking for a VA, I didn't really want another employee to manage, I wanted someone to help manage us,” Nelson says. “I do that enough in my life. I don't really want to have another person to have to do that with.
“Maddie manages me, and I’m so grateful for it.”
During the transition, Maddie was able to have a bit of overlap with the first VA to learn systems and processes a bit before even meeting Amy and Nelson.
“It was really nice having the prerecorded conversations that had been had with Garrett,” Maddie says. “I [went] through all of that first before I even interviewed with Garrett to see if I would be the right fit.
“I compiled like a bunch of questions because I was like, ‘Hey, like I hear these things and I think I could fit this, but what about this and that?’”
“Huge kudos to Garrett because he really reassured me in my first conversation with him as well [as] after I watched the discovery call. He was very much like, ‘These are the reasons why this didn't work and, I see that those are strengths of yours.’"
The Result
“Maddie has such a different personality,” Amy says. “She kinda took the bull by the horns. It was like, ‘This is how we're gonna do things,’ and we were like, ‘Yes, that sounds great. Let's make it happen.’
“It's just such a different experience. She just kinda started, and we just got going and I know for me personally, I felt more comfortable giving her things and, we started meeting separately. There [are] just a lot of things that we learned.
“I think [the transition] made us realize what we wanted. We couldn’t articulate well what we wanted—I don’t think—because we’ve never done it before.
“We told Garrett we want somebody to guide and direct [Nelson] and tell him what he needs to be doing. Garrett is great to listen to all that and then make that happen with Maddie.”
“It was nice not to have to think about it and just know that this is going to happen,” Nelson adds. “We're going to have a new person introduced to us, and we're gonna go with that. And if it doesn't work, Garrett is gonna help us out. We're gonna keep on going.
“I felt like he was an advocate for us, and I think he's an advocate for Maddie too. He said, ‘I need to do what's best for the Kannings.’ I think I heard him say that a few times, and he did an excellent job."